Poll: USF 5th among Florida college football fans

Interesting numbers from a Public Policy Polling poll conducted last month that asked 848 Florida voters, among other things, what was their favorite college football team in the state: USF checks in at fifth in the state with just 6 percent, below Central Florida and Miami.

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It's rare to see something that measures fans across the state, and the poll has a margin of error of 3.4 percent. Florida led the way with 30 percent, followed by FSU (18), UCF (11) and Miami (9), with USF just barely ahead of Florida Atlantic (5 percent), a younger Sun Belt program that hasn't come close to USF's success on the field. Florida International had 1 percent of responses, and it's worth mentioning that 18 percent said they were unsure what their favorite was in the state.

The same poll asked what was the voter's favorite pro team in the state -- the Bucs edged out their NFL competition at 17 percent, with the Dolphins and Jaguars at 16 percent each. The Miami Heat took 14 percent, with the Rays and Magic next at 11 percent.

Thoughts? Comments? I hear you guys pointing out that it looks like the poll options were read alphabetically, which put UCF (actually "Central Florida University") first and USF last, but short of a randomized list, I think that's standard polling practice.

-- 49ers' official site has a 10-minute interview with former USF coach Jim Leavitt. He talks about his time in Tampa -- "We were able to bring people together in a great way ... The disappointment was we didn't win it all. I felt like we would have in time. I just didn't feel like I had enough time." Last quote is a bit odd, even if Leavitt is trying to say how much he likes San Francisco: "I used to say at South Florida, 'Another day in paradise.' Little did I know that I was lying. This area out here. We have a place out here in Los Gatos. I have never seen a world more beautiful in my whole life."

-- We tweeted this Wednesday night, but it looks like the Andy Hipsher-Reggie Hanson swap is official -- Hipsher, USF's director of basketball operations last season, is identifying himself as an "assistant basketball coach" on his Twitter and Facebook pages. He's also out on the road recruiting during a key month for college basketball coaches. Hanson would be demoted to the DBO position.

-- College football in July is all about rankings, rankings, rankings. A few links to share: ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson, running through positional rankings, says USF has the best linebacker unit in the Big East.

-- Athlon Sports ranks all 22 college football coaches who were in their first year in 2010 -- Skip Holtz ranks fifth (behind Western Kentucky's Willie Taggert), with Louisville's Charlie Strong atop the list.

-- Can I deputize a reader in the Stuart area to help out the blog? There's a college football event in Stuart (about three hours from Tampa, on the east coast) on July 29 with representatives from six college football programs. Bill McGillis is representing USF. I probably won't drive across the state for the event, but would love to hear the key points of what he's saying about USF football. ...

-- And from the Random News Department, the new women's lacrosse coach at Urbana University is ... a USF alum. Aimee LeClair played club lacrosse while she was at USF.

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South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Joey Knight, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area. Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.